


Letting Go

by neevebrody



Category: Stargate Atlantis RPF
Genre: Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-14
Updated: 2008-07-14
Packaged: 2017-10-07 04:59:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neevebrody/pseuds/neevebrody
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He turned the stereo up a little louder – a lot louder.  It was foolish to spend his time thinking about it, foolish to want David when there was no other indication that he felt the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letting Go

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "Talents" challenge at McSheplets - this one is about the talents we don't have.

The truck door shut with a tight, heavy clunk, closing him inside, secure and alone. He'd drive up one of the canyon roads. That usually helped him relax, helped him think. Maybe he'd even find a place he could take the truck off-road, some way to work off whatever it was that had such a grip on him… that unsettling feeling that things weren't going to be the same anymore.

Jason had shown him the pictures. Of course, there were photos online, that was to be expected and he couldn't blatantly refuse to look at them. How obvious would that be? But seeing them, Joe remembered all too well why he'd arranged to be busy on the day of David's wedding. It was a plausible enough excuse; they all knew the mini-hiatus was a busy time, a good time for meetings, vacations… getting married. Too soon, they'd all be back filming the remainder of the season and he knew it would be different.

He cleared his throat and tried to shake it off. It's not like he'd ever done anything about his unusual attraction. Not because he hadn't wanted to, he thought, turning onto one of the winding canyon roads that would take him north. Especially after that time during shooting early in the third season, when David was worried about his film. He was under a lot of pressure to find an outlet, marketing and whatnot. They'd spent the better part of an evening talking and drinking and maybe David had had a bit too much, maybe they both had.

It was nothing really, he reminded himself, scraping a hand over the bristling hair on his chin. They never talked about it afterward and, wisely, he supposed, never repeated it. But he'd never forgotten the shock of David's mouth on his, David's hands tangled in his hair or the way they'd pressed their bodies together, just for that one kiss.

He turned the stereo up a little louder – a lot louder. It was foolish to spend his time thinking about it, foolish to want David when there was no other indication that he felt the same.

Before he knew it, Joe found himself nearing a turnoff that would take him to a popular off-road spot. He turned in, shifted to four-wheel drive and eased the truck down the rutted dirt road. It was little more than a trail, but he and Jason had been there before. He shook his head and recalled letting Jason drive, the two of them whooping and hollering and having a blast going through the mud and over the rough terrain. He slowed to a stop before heading onto the trail.

He couldn't get those pictures out of his mind. David and Jane looked so happy and in Joe's circle of friends, it was rare to see two people as genuinely happy as that. David was a very lucky man.

Joe wondered if David might have been disappointed at all because he hadn't attended, although he knew the instant David had mentioned it that he wouldn't go. Couldn't. He huffed out a laugh. After all the studying he'd done over the years, and the body of work to perfect his craft, Joe was well aware his talent for acting didn't extend that far. He could never have hidden his sadness and the fear that everything would change. And as close as they'd become, he was afraid David would see that and recognize it for what it was and Joe couldn't let that happen.

Resigned now to let David go, let him be happy, Joe dropped the truck into drive and mashed the accelerator with a booted foot. David was in good hands after all – Jane would take good care of him and that was really all Joe wanted – for David to be happy.

He plunged through mud holes and swerved around the errant hazard, hoping the dangers and challenges of the trail would serve to clear his mind. Give him a good dose of reality and forget things he'd never have.

**Author's Note:**

> Beta by: girly_curl_3


End file.
